This Bulls Opening Will Have New Look

November 04, 1994|By Melissa Isaacson, Tribune Staff Writer.

It will be different, that much is certain.

John Paxson will be wearing a suit and hoisting old banners without any company. David Stern will be giving rings to some other team. Ray Clay will be introducing "your Chicago Bulls" again, but it won't be the old Bulls, and it won't be the Old Barn.

And it won't be with quite the same arrogance that they'll pack the new United Center on Friday for opening night against the Charlotte Hornets.

Even the players admit they don't know quite what to expect. But give them a chance, say Scottie Pippen and B.J. Armstrong, and maybe you'll even grow to kind of like this team.

"We realize the expectation of this team over the last few years is one of a winning tradition," said Pippen. "We want to do nothing less than that. We realize what we have to do this season, and I think we realize what type of team we have.

"But I feel good about our chances. I feel like our ballclub is not quite as good as last year's team, but I feel we can go just as far as we went last year."

A 55-win season would indeed be a lofty goal with as many as three new starters and several names you may not have heard of.

Greg Foster, a 6-foot-11, fifth-year journeyman, will start the season on the 12-man roster, with Bill Wennington, Jud Buechler and Kevin Rankin on the injured list. Guard Kevin Franklin was cut.

Wennington has been bothered by a sprained ankle but pronounced himself fit after practice Thursday and was not expecting to go on the injured list, which means a minimum of five games on the sideline. "We didn't want it to be a nagging thing," said General Manager Jerry Krause.

Buechler, a 6-6 guard and five-year journeyman, is said to have tendinitis in his knee, and Rankin, a 7-foot rookie forward out of Northwestern, is said to have a lower back strain. But both have been practicing with the team and are being kept around for insurance purposes.

Luc Longley, who missed most of the preseason with an ankle injury, was the best guess for a stint on the injured list and expected it. But as the starting center at the end of last season, the Bulls think they need him in uniform.

"We're not counting on Luc until Wednesday," said Krause, "but we didn't want to put him on the five-game list because we think he'll only miss a couple."

Fortunately for the Bulls, All-Star center Alonzo Mourning is doubtful for Charlotte. But they may be too busy getting to know each other after an erratic 4-4 preseason to notice if he's out.

"At the outset," said Armstrong, "we have to get everyone familiar with how we play. We have a lot of new faces in Ron (Harper), Larry (Krystkowiak) and Dickey (Simpkins) and not a lot of experience. Getting everyone on the same page is important."